New Pilot Project
Awards

Dr.
George Bailey,
Distinguished Professor and LPI affiliate investigator, will conduct studies
to evaluate the inhibition of chemical carinogenesis by dietary chlorophyll,
the green pigment present in many vegetables. Dr. Bailey and his colleagues
will feed derivatives and extracts of chlorophyll to fingerling trout
exposed to a chemical carcinogen and then measure tumor formation after
forty weeks. In some trout, they will also check the amount of chemical
carcinogen bound to DNA, with the expectation that chlorophyll will reduce
the amount of DNA-carcinogen adducts formed as well as decrease the incidence
of tumors.

Dr.
David Williams,
Professor of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology and LPI affiliate
investigator, and his colleague will investigate the anticancer effect
of six abundant ginsenosides, which are compounds present in both Asian
and American ginseng. Crude extracts and purified compounds will be tested
in human breast cancer cells grown in culture. Since the ginsenosides
possess estrogen-like properties, their effect as hormones will also be
evaluated to determine beneficial as well as possible detrimental effects.

Dr. Ching Yuan Hušs
project will focus on the inhibition of adipogenesis, or generation of
fat tissue, by retinoic acid, which is a naturally occurring form of vitamin
A. Using mouse cell cultures, Dr. Hu and his colleagues will check the
influence of retinoic acid on the gene regulatory role of a protein (COUP-TF)
that inhibits the maturation of preadipocytes into fat cells. Retinoic
acid is known to play an important role in cell differentiation (development
of normal, mature function), and this project will add to our understanding
of the physiological mechanisms of retinoic acid. With new understanding
of the interplay between COUP-TF and retinoic acid, it may be possible
to devise innovative ways to reduce obesity. Dr. Hu is a Professor of
Animal Sciences.

Dr.
Anthony Vella,
Assistant Professor of Microbiology and LPI affiliate investigator, has
designed a project to help understand the nature of immune reactions involved
in arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. He and his colleagues will
test the influence of inflammatory molecules on the death of certain immune
system cells called T lymphocytes that are involved in cell-mediated immunity.
T cells originate in the bone marrow and then mature in the thymus, which
is a small organ located near the heart. Tolerance, the ability of the
body not to attack its own constituent molecules, is dependent upon normal
T cell behavior. B lymphocytes are components of humoral immunity and
produce antibodies by a reaction with an antigen. Their activation results
in the clonal expansion of these cells and the release of soluble antibodies,
which in turn stimulate the production of complement (serum proteins that
nonspecifically bind to foreign molecules). In contrast, T cells have
receptors on their surface that interact with antigens presented on the
surface of foreign cells. Interactions between B cells, various types
of T cells, and complement are very complex. Dr. Vella will study the
influence of complement on the survival and death of T cells as well as
other aspects of T cell activation.

--Stephen Lawson

Last updated May,
1998

Honoring a Scientific
Giant with Research Toward Longer, Better Lives

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suggestions, or questions about The Linus Pauling Institute
to lpi@oregonstate.edu